Chapter 127: Predicament
Chapter 127: Predicament
“So, you still refused?” In a car in the parking lot, Kapoor sat in the driver’s seat and looked helplessly at Eric in the passenger seat.
Thinking back to the scene just now, Eric sighed, then still nodded.
Although Spielberg had not shown any displeasure when he left, only regretfully saying that Eric could contact him again if he changed his mind, Eric still knew he had offended this famous Jewish director. This could be seen from the way Spielberg’s assistant looked at him, with a gaze that carried the meaning of not knowing what was good for him.
If Spielberg had only expressed his intention to buy the rights through other people in the past, then Eric refusing would not have been much. But this refusal was much more serious. Spielberg had personally stepped forward, which counted as a very sincere gesture, almost equivalent to delivering a favor right to Eric’s door. If this deal went through, Eric would not only receive a generous rights-transfer fee, but also win Spielberg’s goodwill. This connection might bring him great help someday.
But he could not transfer away a very important chess piece in his future career layout just for a favor, even a very weighty one.
Jurassic Park involved a massive industrial chain worth tens of billions of dollars. Although Eric had never thought of monopolizing it, he at least had to ensure that he could obtain the most delicious piece of this huge cake in the future. Once he sold the rights, he would completely lose dominance over the project. At most, he would only get some leftover soup after others ate meat and drank wine in great mouthfuls.
“Eric, do you want to hear my advice?” Kapoor asked.
“I know what you’re going to say. Contact Spielberg immediately and sell him the film rights, right? Kapoor, there’s no room for discussion on this matter. I won’t sell.”
Kapoor rubbed his bald head in distress. “Eric, have you thought about your own situation? Right now, you’re completely fighting alone. You seem familiar with the executives of those film companies, but that’s entirely built on pure profit. The reason they treat you so well now is because all your previous films were hugely successful and brought them enormous benefits. But no one can keep succeeding forever. Once you fail next, that will be when they turn on you.”
Eric said confidently, “I think for quite a long time, I won’t experience the kind of failure you’re talking about. I have great confidence in my films.”
“There are many factors behind failure. It could even be man-made,” Kapoor continued. “Eric, think carefully. Compared to your strength, you’ve taken too large a share. Once, twice, even three or four times is still fine. They’ll only think you’re a lucky little guy. But if this continues, those giants will suppress you at all costs, even destroy you. It’s like lions on the grassland. They’ll allow hyenas to gnaw on the food they leave behind, but they will absolutely not allow a weak hyena to possess more than the lion pride.”
Eric opened his mouth, but could not think of any rebuttal. He knew what Kapoor meant. Kapoor still wanted him to find some firm allies, so that if he encountered suppression in the future, he would not fall into a completely isolated and helpless situation.
Spielberg wanting the film rights to Jurassic Park was an excellent opportunity to befriend him. Once Eric sold the rights, the film’s screenplay would definitely be impossible to separate from him. Spielberg had also promised that Firefly could participate in the investment. These all provided the conditions for Eric to contact Spielberg and build a good personal relationship with him. But after thinking it over again and again, Eric was still unwilling.
Kapoor noticed the struggle and hesitation in Eric’s expression and continued persuading him. “Eric, do you know which old Hollywood film company Firefly resembles the most?”
Eric looked up curiously. Kapoor did not keep him in suspense. “It most resembles the old United Artists. Back then, Chaplin joined forces with several other famous directors to create United Artists. The company’s positioning was purely as a production company, specializing in providing excellent films to the other major giants. It’s very similar to Firefly now, which has no distribution channels at all. In the end, among those film giants with complete distribution channels, apart from unlucky RKO, all of them survived. But United Artists, which was once mentioned alongside the other giants, declined into a subsidiary under MGM. A major reason was that United Artists focused too much on production while neglecting to expand its own distribution channels.”
Hearing Kapoor say this, DreamWorks, the company Eric was most familiar with, immediately appeared in his mind. It seemed history really was shockingly similar.
And the phrase “channels are king,” which he often saw in economic articles in later generations, was indeed a truth. In his memories from his previous life, the second-tier Hollywood film companies that developed relatively well, such as Lionsgate and Miramax, all started out in distribution. Meanwhile, Spielberg’s DreamWorks and the later new DreamWorks could only drift among giants like Universal, Paramount, and Disney. Sometimes, they would bitterly end up breaking apart over a dispute about one percent of distribution share.
“And the current Firefly is even worse than the old United Artists. It basically has no distribution ability at all. Those film giants that monopolize most of the distribution channels would find it far too easy to deal with you. So right now, you very much need allies who can truly help you at critical moments. If a terrible situation occurs, there will be people who can wave the flag and shout for you, connect bridges for you, instead of leaving you isolated and helpless. Hyenas can’t be friends with lions, but there is no barrier between those of the same kind. Under these circumstances, Spielberg practically delivered himself to your door, yet you pushed him away. This is simply too unwise.”
If Eric were a native of this time and space, after Kapoor’s mixture of coaxing, tricking, and frightening persuasion, he would definitely have obediently handed over Jurassic Park. Unfortunately, he was not.
“Alright, Kapoor, I understand.” Eric nodded, looking as if he had been taught.
Kapoor happily handed his mobile phone to Eric. “Then hurry and call Spielberg. Don’t be afraid he’ll think you’re fickle, Eric. You’re a young man. You have that privilege. Spielberg won’t mind.”
Eric took the brick-like Motorola and weighed it in his hand. “Kapoor, I only said I understood the importance of distribution channels to Firefly. I didn’t say I was going to sell the rights to Jurassic Park to Spielberg.”
Pfft—
Virginia, who had been sitting quietly in the back seat listening to their conversation, could not help laughing. Realizing her loss of composure, she quickly covered her small mouth.
Kapoor seemed to choke. He widened his eyes and stared speechlessly at Eric. In the end, he took back his mobile phone in disappointment. “Suit yourself. I’ve said everything I can. Jeffrey was right. You really are a young man stubborn to the point of obsession.”
“Don’t worry, Kapoor. I have my own plans. Think about it. I’m British-American, and I still have British citizenship now. So even if I get close to Spielberg, I’m destined to be unable to enter the Jewish circle.”
Eric had not ignored these issues. Among Firefly’s films this year, the next three films he was personally involved in already had places to go. One would support Columbia, and the other two would go to Fox according to the previous contract.
Although the other three films had not yet confirmed distributors, he had already received plenty of distribution interest from the Big Six. As long as he was willing, he could sign distribution contracts at any time.
If all these films could become box office hits like in his previous life, then he could accumulate a large amount of original capital. Even if one or two of them performed poorly at the box office because of the butterfly effect, it would not hurt him in the slightest. At most, he would earn a little less. After all, apart from Running Out of Time, for which Columbia had foolishly thrown in forty million dollars, the planned investment for the other films was all under ten million. As long as even one of them exploded like in his previous life, he could recover all his investment and earn a profit on top of it.
After this year, just as Kapoor said, the giants would definitely realize he was taking too much and would think of every possible way to suppress him and squeeze away the benefits he deserved. But by then, he would already have enough original accumulation and would not be completely powerless to respond.
Leaving aside whether the Big Six would truly unite to suppress him, even if that less-than-one-percent-probability event really happened, he could slowly conserve his strength and wait. Besides, Eric did not believe that when he had the ability to bring them huge benefits, those giants would be able to maintain a long-term consensus against him. Too many people meant divided hearts. Even three monks might have no water to drink, let alone six.
“Kapoor, let’s leave it here tonight. Lend me the car. You can drive mine.”
Kapoor glanced at the woman sitting in the back seat and shook his head. “No, Eric. Cars can’t be lent casually, especially since you drank. I’ll drive you home.”
“Kapoor, don’t be so serious. Don’t think that just because you shaved your head, you can act as a light bulb.” Eric teased helplessly. Virginia, sitting in the back seat, had already lowered her head shyly.
Kapoor laughed. “You misunderstand. I’m not that tactless. I mean I’ll drive both of you back. I only had a few sips of champagne. More importantly, when it comes to losing paparazzi, I have plenty of experience. Back then, it was precisely because of this skill that I got my first employer. I don’t want to have to do PR tomorrow morning for gossip news about the two of you again. Eric, Beverly Hills or Malibu?”
“My place. Malibu is too far.”
“Mm. Then sit in the back. The front seat might get photographed.”
Eric readily moved to the back seat. Kapoor started the car and left the underground parking lot. As soon as they drove onto the road, several cars very obviously followed them.
After a while, Kapoor looked at the rearview mirror a few times and smiled. “A total of three paparazzi cars followed us. Luckily, there are many targets at the party. Otherwise, there might have been a long tail.”